Two-piece dispensing receptacle



June 26, 1962 E. B. GARMAN f 3,040,952

Two-PIECE DISPENSINGREGEPTACLE Filed Sept. 2, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. 4Z 5 4 fo/4620 dr/ifi 3,040,952 TWO-PIECE DISPENSING RECEPTACLE Edward B. Garman, Toledo, Ohio, assignor to Owens- Illinois Glass Company, a corporation of Ohio Filed Sept. 2, 1958, Ser. No. 758,210 2 Claims. (El. 229-17) 'Ihe present invention relates to `a carton or receptacle, and, more particularly to a receptacle adapted to contain a plurality of articles stacked in vertical array and to dispense same out the bottom of the receptacle.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a dispensing receptacle of the type referred to which is of extremely simple design and is provided with a self-interlocking arrangement whereby auxiliary fastening is not required.

lt is another object of this invention to provide such a receptacle which is so designed that it may be conveniently shipped in partial assembly, which assembly is flat, and can then be assembled by the ultim-ate consumer in a simple manner and without use of auxiliary fastening.

It is likewise an object of this invention to provide a dispensing receptacle which is formed of two pieces of the material of construction, which pieces are self-locking in erected assembly.

The above and other objects of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in `the art from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the annexed sheets of drawings, on which there are presented for convenience of illustration only, several embodiments of the invention.

The dispensing receptacle of this invention is desirably formed of relatively inexpensive material such as single wall corrugated board or the like. This material is desired because it is relatively stiff, yet is possessed of inherent resilience whereby the plurality of articles or products stacked therein are protected against damage due to shock and the like.

Basically, the present invention contemplates a receptacle or reservoir formed of two pieces of the desired material, one of which is essentially an open-ended tubular member, the upper edges of which are provided with a pair of opposed notches, and one of which being essentially an inner channel member formed of three foldably connected panels, the innermost of which serves as a bottom Wall for said receptacle, the outermost serving as inner side walls, the latter of which each being provided in their upper edges with swingable tabs adapted to enage said notches to lock the members together.

In the drawings:

FIG. l is a three-quarter perspective view of the assembled dispensing receptacle of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an exploded three-quarter perspective view showing the manner in which the individual members of the final receptacle tit together.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the blank which forms one of the components of the receptacle.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the blank forming the other component of the receptacle.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a blank similar to that shown in FIG. 4, but with the ends thereof broken away.

As indicated, the completely assembled receptacle or container 10 is shown in perspective in FIG. l. As can be seen, the lowermost corner of the receptacle has been cut away so that generally rectangular articles (designated by dotted lines) contained therein may be conveniently removed one at a time. As the lowermost article A in the stack is removed, the next lowermost article B will fall by gravity to the bottom and be next in line for removal. The upper end 14 of the carton is completely open so States Patent O f' 3,040,952 Patented June 26, 1962 that additional articles can be conveniently introduced.

The details of construction of the receptacle of the invention will be more clearly understood by now referring to lFIGS. 4 and 5, wherein is shown respectively the blanks used in forming the two pieces constituting the receptacle.

In FIG. 5, a rectangular sheet 21 of the material of construction in this case, corrugated liber board, is provided with spaced, parallel or vertical score lines 22, 23, and 24 to define a series of panels 2S, 2-5, 27, and 2S. The lowermost edge 29 of the blank is provided with a rectangular cutout 30 which extends from the panel 25 across panel 26 and into the panel 27. Additionally, the upper edge 31 of the blank l21 is provided with a rectangular notch 32 in the panel 25, and a rectangular notch 33 in the panel 27. This blank may be assembled to form the tubular member of the receptacle by bending on the score lines 22, 23, and 24, and bringing the marginal vertical free edges 34 and 35 together and fastening by an adhesive tape or the like (not shown). Alternatively, of course, the blank may be formed with a connected glue iiap on either of the edges 34 or 35 in the manner known in the art. lt will be appreciated that the blank 21, when taped as described, can be folded on the fold lines 22 and 24 to form a `at article which will have a thickness equal to twice the thickness of the individual wall of the receptacle, and can be thus conveniently shipped in this fashion. The ultimate user then has only to expand the blank to bring the side walls 25 and 27 into spaced rel-ationship and, at the same time, the end walls 2.6 and 2S into spaced relationship, as shown in the lowermost portion of FIG. 3.

The other element of the receptacle is shown in blank form in FIG. 4, and, as can be seen, is composed of a single rectangular sheet 41 having spaced parallel or vertical score lines 42 and 43 which serve to define a series of panels 44, 45, and 46. The blank is provided with a cut-out as at 47 in its lower edge 48 which extends from the panel 44 across the panel 45 and into the panel 46. In addition, the vertical edges 49 and 5% of the blank are cut as at 51 to deline T-shaped swingable tabs 52. The blank 41 may be conveniently shipped by folding it either on score 42 or 43 to provide a double thickness pack which is economical as to space and shipment. The blank 41 then may be conveniently erected by the ultimate consumer by merely folding on the score line 42 and 43 to bring the panels 44 and 46 into spaced parallel relationship normal to the central panel 45. Additionally, to put this element into proper form for assembly with the tubular member, the T-shaped flaps 52 are pushed outwardly. This element in its tin-al form just prior to nal erection is shown in the upper portion of FIG. 3. In this form it can be seen that the member 41 is, in an elevation view, channel-like in conguration. The channel member 41 can now be combined with the tubular member l21 by telescoping the channel member down into the interior of the tube as indicated in FIG. 3. As can be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3, the panels 44 and 46 of the channel member 41 will be in sliding abutment, respectively, with the side wall panels 25 and 27 of the tubular member 21. As the channel member is lowered, the T-shaped flaps SZ are tted into and engage the rectangular notches 32 and '33 in the uppermost edge 31 of the tubular member, while, at the same time, the cut-out 47 will approach registry with the cut-out 30 in the tubular member. The engagement of the tabs with notches suspends the bottom wall and locates it in tixed relationship with the side Walls of the outer tubular member.

When the receptacle of this invention is formed of single wall corrugated board, it is most preferable that the tubular member 21 of the channel member 41 be so formed that the direct-ion of the corrugations therein will be perpendicular to each other in the `final assembly. This will provide a final receptacle of maximum strength.

In the drawings, the receptacle of this invention has been shown with the bottom wall i5 of the channel member 41 lying in the same plane as the lower edge 29 of the tubular member. With this arrangement, both of the members are provided with the referred to cut-outs 30 and 47 to permit removal of one of the articles stacked therein. It will be appreciated, however, that the receptacle could be so formed that the bottom wall 45 would extend below the lower edge 29 of the tubular member so that the article contained therein could be removed from either end wall. The construction as shown, however, is preferred, because accidental removal of articles is not as possible.

For purposes of providing the optimum in support for the articles contained in the dispensing receptacle, the blank forming the channel member 41 may be cut as shown in FIG. 6, wherein corresponding parts to the blank shown in FIG. 4 are identiiied by the same numeral but distinguished by reference letter (1. The blank has had its end portions, including the swingable tabs, cut

away, inasmuch as these end portions are identical to the of the panels 44a and 46a `adjacent the central panel 45a..

Thus, it will be appreciated that the longest dimension of the bottom wall 45a will be -identical to the length of the side walls 44a and 46a.

'For simplicity of illustration, the receptacle of the in-l vention has been illustrated as being rectangular in a horizontal section. However, it will be appreciated that the receptacle can be so fabricated that it will dene a square figure in horizontal section.

The receptacle of this invention is very convenient for the purpose of containing and dispensing a wide variety of articles at the consumer level, such as drugstores, groceries, super markets, and the like. The proprieter need only assemble the carton in the simple fashion described hereinbefore, and then introduce therein a plurality of the articles to be dispensed. The vertical stack of articles is, ofcourse, extremely economical of the shelf space of the store, and, at the same time, retain them in orderly fashion. The novel arrangement for locking the two elements of the receptacle does not interfere with the upper opening of the receptacle as can be most conveniently seen from FIG. 2. Thus, the swingable tabs are displaced laterally outside the inner margin of the container or receptacle defined by the panels 44 and d6 of the inner channel member 41. Accordingly, additional artid. cles can be easily introduced without frictional contact at the upper opening.

While the swingable tabs have been shown as essentially T-shaped, it will be appreciated that other forms of swingable tabs could be used. Thus, instead of a T, the upper edges of the channel member could be cut in an inverted L. form so that only one horizontal leg would engage the rectangular notch in the tubular member. The T-shaped swingable tab is, of course, most preferred, because it provides a more positive interlock and, at the same time, provides a more positive balanced location at the bottom wall, and insures registering relationship of the cooperating parts of the respective elements.

Obviously, modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention which is defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A dispensing receptacle comprising an open ended tubular member formed of relatively stiff, sheet-like material, said member including pairs of opposed side and end walls foldably connected together into a tubular configuration, an inner channel member telescopable within said tubular member, said channel member comprising a central panel adapted to close the lower end of said tubular coniiguration, side panels foldably connected to opposed edges of said central panel and extending upwardly in abutting relationship with a pair of said side walls, notches formed in the upper free edges of said pair of side walls, tabs foldably attached to said side panels, said tabs arranged to interlock with said notch to prevent the downward movement of side panels relative to side walls, and means for providing dispensing access to the interior of said tubular member.

2. A receptacle as defined in claim 1, wherein said last mentioned means includes a cutaway portion on one of said end walls, said cutaway portion being arranged to define a full width opening adjacent to said central panel.

ReferencesCited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,178,748 Nicholson Apr. 1v1, 1916 1,898,056 Johnson Feb. 21, 1933 1,916,230 Murray July 4, 1933 2,010,118 Tarbay Aug. 6, 1935 2,037,576 Handel Apr. 14, 1936 2,619,276 Gibbons Nov. 25, 1952 2,730,231 Ryan Jan, l0, 1956 2,752,034 Newell Tune 26, 1956 

